Good morning Bulgaria

Turkey is AMAZING! Or rather, Istanbul is amazing. Or at least, the parts I have seen so far today.

The Turkish border, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired.

Our night train arrived at around 3:30 am this morning, and unlike in Europe where the officers come through the train, here you actually have to get off the train and go into the customs & immigration station. Now, because Turkey is keen on joining the EU, European citizens don't need a visa, they just get their passports stamped, however nationals from places like Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada need to buy a Visa at the station.

No big deal - or so one might think. Recently, Turkey pulled its envoys to both Canada and France after our countries officially recognized the genocide of the Armenian people committed by the Turks in the early 20th century. The Turks claim that the deaths were casualties of a war for independence, that the rates were much lower, and that Turkey suffered just as many losses. Now, I honestly don't know enough to comment one way or the other, however what I DO know is that the cost for a Visa is now 3 times higher for Canadians than it is for Americans. And did I mention that they don't accept credit cards? And that there isn't a bank machine? And that the staff doesn't really speak english? Basically, if you don't have enough money you get stuck there at the Bulgarian border until the morning when you catch a local bus to the nearest grocery store to get some cash out. That would be a shitty deal.

So, I had exactly 43 euros on me, and that was it. I knew it would be expensive, but I didn't think it would be more than 40. It was 50. Thankfully earlier I had met a Spanish guy named Diego and his girlfriend Carolina and they offered to give me the difference, so I was in the clear. Except that there were 3 other Canadians there (including a guy and his 80+ year old mother) who didn't know they had to have currency at the border and were gonna get stuck. So between me, the Spanish couple and 4 Danish guys, we gathered up enough euros for them to all get a visa and got them across! Because who wants to be stuck at a train station in Bulgaria at 4 in the morning?? We sorted out who owed what once we got to Istanbul and then went our separate ways. All in all, quite the international co-operation!

Anyhow, now I'm here and I'm safe, and it's beautiful and the Turkish people are awesome. I have tons more to write but I think I'll save it for next time.